Remembering
by Mahine
Summary: What happens when Cornelia's life is turned upside down twice? Just how will she cope? CxC
1. Chapter 1

She Clung to him, his body and hers mingling so that they where like one being. Tears were forming in her eyes, a sob stuck in her throat so that she felt like she was going to drown. She wouldn't cry, this wasn't happening, it wasn't true.

Her clothes started to feel damp as his life force was ebbing from him to stain her body in more ways than one. She felt his hand on her cheek and moved her head to stare in to those beautiful eyes. The light was starting to fade in them, the sparkle to die, but she could still see his love for her, clinging on until the very last.

Then…..he smiled….a single tear fell down his strong angular cheek. The light in his eyes finely died, Extinguished forever to leave her cold and alone.

The sob broke free and she felt she would drown in her tears. She couldn't remember being picked up by gentle hands and carried away, carried from him. She couldn't remember the soothing words and people stroking her long hair. There was only one thing she could remember……. Caleb.

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Cornelia Hale sat at her favourite spot in the garden; many years had passed since the guardians had won the fight against the evil in Meridian. Phobos had been destroyed and Nerissa had been trapped in her own seal. Cedric was dead too. But Cornelia had paid a huge price for his death and Meridian's salvation. Her heart, her soul, her reason for being had been taken from her on that fateful day.

She could remember it all so clearly, like it was yesterday.

Everyone had thought that Cedric had died when he fell, no one could have known what was going to happen, she could see Caleb running towards her, a look of relief showing on his face, relief that she was OK, that she wasn't hurt. He was smiling and just about to say something to her when a huge claw came out of nowhere and pinned him to the ground. Cedric was laughing

"If I'm going, then your coming with me rebel leader"

She could dimly remember Will and the others finishing Cedric off, He laughed all the way through.

Hay Lin had to remove the claw with air from Caleb's body, as it was too big for anyone else to lift. " You're going to be OK," She said, over and over again, like a mantra. If she kept saying it then it would be true. She knew though, deep down, she knew. That's why she had just held him, held him so tight and told him that she loved him….. That was 10 years ago now and still the pain had not lessened

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Cornelia stood up and brushed the grass from her skirt. She walked up the path to her back door where Napoleon was sunning himself on the doorstep. She was having to cat sit whilst Lillian went away for the weekend with one of her friends.

She had bought this house 2 years ago. Mainly because of the garden, it had a huge willow tree in the middle with a small bench underneath so she could sit and relax after a hard day's work. She had a very successful job designing clothes for one of the top Fashion houses and as such worked long arduous days.

A little voice called her from inside the house. " Mummy! Aunty Will's on the phone, can you come talk to her please!"

Her son, her precious son, Cal was jumping up and down and waving at her, no doubt he'd been disturbed from watching one of his favourite cartoons and was itching to get back to it. He was 10 years old now and looked so much like his father it was scary. He had the same unruly hair, that no matter how much you brushed it; it still stood up all over the place! She took the phone off him and ruffled his hair as he darted back to the front room to carry on watching the T.V.

" Hey Will," She said

"Corny! Thank God, I've been trying to get hold of you for ages. Listen we need you to get to the Silver Dragon ASAP. There are some things that the Guardians need to discuss"

Cornelia sighed. She had told her friend so many times, till she was blue in the face infact, that she didn't want to be a guardian anymore. She hadn't even used her powers for 5 years.

"Will, I've told you" She was cut off by Will, huffing in her ear " Cornelia, we need you, Please, just this once. I promise I won't ask you again."

The line went silent as Cornelia wrestled with her conscience. "Alright, but I have to bring Cal with me, I'm not leaving him on his own. Give me half an hour and I'll be there"

She hung up the phone and took a deep breath. She could deal with whatever they wanted her for. Hell she could always just say no if she wanted to!

She went to the front room and saw Cal sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, a serious look playing across his face as he watched dragons battling on the screen in front of him. Another memory came to her then, one that she had dreamed of nearly every night for the past 10 years…….

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It was the night before the battle and every one was nervous. There was a tension in the air that put everyone on edge. It was late and they all knew they needed some sleep to help prepare them for the hardships of tomorrow.

The guardians all went their separate ways, saying their goodnights and goodbyes as if it was the last time that they would ever say them.

The air was cool as Cornelia walked home and the night shone with stars, the moon beamed down on her causing her hair to shine even at night.

She could see a figure ahead. Even at this distance she knew by the shape of his shoulders and the cocky way that he was leaning against the wall that it was Caleb. She smiled, pleased that he had remembered to meet her here. She reached him and he took her hand, she felt a shiver as his warm skin connected with hers, She could see the gleam of his eyes in the moonlight and wondered at how they could shine so. They wandered aimlessly for a while, there wasn't much talking, and they just wanted to enjoy being with each other. Neither of them wanted to think that this could be the last time that either of them held hands or kissed in the moonlight.

They eventually ended up outside Cornelia's front door. Her parents had taken Lillian out to friends and then gone out for some dinner so she knew they wouldn't be home for hours yet.

All night she had wrestled with her conscious. She just couldn't get out of her head "What if he dies tomorrow and I never get the chance to be with him?" Looking back she guessed she knew, deep down, what was going to happen.

So she asked him in.

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"What ya looking at mummy?" Cal drew her out of her reverie. " Nothing sweetie, pack up your toy's and turn off the telly, we're going to see your Aunts"

"Yippee" Came Cal's reply as he bounded into action as only a 10 year old could.

While Cal was readying himself Cornelia picked up the keys to her car, "I'm just going to walk in, listen to what they have to say and if I don't like it, I can walk out"

Somehow, no matter how many times she said it on the drive over to the Silver Dragon, it still didn't sound very convincing.

When she had arrived and left Cal playing with some of his toys at a table, Cornelia made her way to the basement. It had been years since she had been down those steps and memories of Caleb came flooding back. She pushed them all to the recesses of her mind and focused on the group that was standing in front of her.

Her heart stopped, her breath caught in the back of her throat. It couldn't be. It wasn't possible. But she could _smell_ him. He was there, leaning against the wall with the same self assured cockiness that he'd had all those years ago.

"Cornelia"

Those where the last words she heard before she passed out.

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Hey guys, this is my first FanFic and actually the first time I've written anything in years! So please be gentle with me! I'm not sure where I'm going to go with this but hopefully it won't take me too long to figure it out. I guess I'm just a sucker for a bit of angst and romance!

It would make me a very happy person if you reviewed….pretty please!


	2. Chapter 2

When Cornelia woke the first thing that she noticed was that she was in her own bed. She sat up and saw that the moon was beginning its dominance over the night sky.

"Cal" She jumped out of bed barely noticing that someone had taken the time to undress her and threw on the dressing gown that was hanging behind the door. She ran to the end of the hall, which was where her son's room was located and stopped abruptly as she heard voices coming from within.

The door was slightly ajar and she could see Irma reading a sleepy looking Cal a rather animated version of The Never Ending Story. She relaxed and pushed her back to the cool wall behind her.

That's when it hit her.

"Oh God, Caleb" A wave of Nausea passed over her and she had to lean further into the wall to stop herself from falling.

Thoughts were spinning through her head like a roller coaster and she fought to control them. It couldn't have been him, She saw him die, and She held him as his blood soaked her clothes.

"Get a grip of yourself Cornelia" She mentally berated herself as she pushed her tired body away from the wall.

She made her way to the kitchen and poured a cold glass of water. The bottle of sleeping pills that she knew were in the top cupboard were calling her. They where the only way that she could get a decent nights sleep.

She shook her head at her foolishness and her weakness and sat down at the breakfast bar to wait for Irma.

Irma would tell her that it was all a mistake; God knows Cornelia had been working really hard lately and it was just the stress and strain catching up on her. Irma would tell that every thing was ok and that she hadn't seen her dead lover, the father to her son, standing in the basement of the silver dragon.

Wouldn't she?

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Caleb was confused. He had been confused a lot recently and he couldn't figure out why. The reason for his confusion was the blond haired girl he had seen earlier on in the day. His head was pounding again and he was worried that he'd have another turn if he didn't sit down soon. His 'turns' had been coming more often and it was taking him longer to recover from them as well.

He was sure he'd seen that girl somewhere before, he just couldn't quite place it. His head started to throb when he thought about the blond haired beauty that had collapsed in front of him so he turned his mind to other things. As hard as he tried though he just couldn't get her face out of his head. All he could see was those eyes. It was almost like remembering something from a dream.

He had been working with the guardians for years now. There had always just been four. Apparently the earth guardian had died in some battle or another and they hadn't replaced her yet. He found it strange though, how they could just let someone walk down to the basement like that. They could have been in their guardian form or anything.

Caleb looked to the setting sun and pulled himself to a stand. He had to be back at the palace before nightfall so he could give his report to Queen Elyon. She had sent him on a scouting mission to Earth, which was why he had stopped by the Silver Dragon.

Even though the majority of her reign had been peaceful she could never afford to let her guard down. Caleb had worked for the Queen for 10 years now. He had been found wondering through the streets of Meridian, dazed and confused and not knowing where or even who he was.

He had eventually remembered his name but as for the rest he had no idea. Even trying to remember caused his head to thump rhythmically in time with his footsteps.

He thought back to that day when he had been found and taken into the Queen's hospitality.

_The grass was wet. He tried to move but found that every part of his body ached. His throat was bone dry and his lips where cracked. He slowly moved his tongue over them to try and create some sort of moisture. __He very slowly sat up and let his eyes come into focus. God his chest hurt. He looked down and saw a huge scar covering most of his upper body. "What the…" He looked up and for the first time took in his surroundings. __He had no idea where he was. In fact he had no idea _who_ he was. Panic started to rise in his throat and a small whimper escaped his lips.__He forced himself to his feet, every muscle in his body screaming in protest at the injustice he was doing to his body. He could see smoke in the distance and decided to make his way towards it. There was a village there. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. _

_When he arrived in the village it was deserted, he could hear music coming from over a hill and the sounds of laughter and singing were in the air. He saw a horse tied to a fence post and staggered over to it. It was a fine animal. Tall and black with a long sweeping mane and tail. He used the last of his strength to haul himself onto the horses back and collapsed against its neck._

_North._

_He needed to go north. Again he didn't know why, but his gut was screaming at him to head north. He pointed the stallion in that direction and clasped onto its mane until the rhythm of the animal sent him to sleep. _

Caleb was pulled out of his reverie by the sight of the camp below him. Apparently the rebels had spent so many years living in tents and out of camps that some of them had found it difficult to return to a normal life.That suited Caleb fine though. He had used these rebels to guard the perimeter of Meridian for many years and they had never complained. He made his way over to the corral where they kept all the horses and easily picked out the black stallion that had carried him all that way so many years ago. He had named him aarde. The stallion lifted his head and snorted at Caleb as he gathered his rains and jumped into the saddle with ease.

By the time Caleb arrived back at the palace night had already fallen. He handed his horse to one of the grooms and made his way to the throne room. He knew that Elyon would be waiting there for him to give his report. Thankfully there was nothing much to report on, it had been very quiet for at least two years now and the kingdom had fallen into a relaxed state of being.

Elyon was an excellent Queen, She was just and fair and Meridian had prospered under her rule. With the help of the four guardians many things had been bought from Earth to make their lives easier. They now had things called tractors to help them with their plowing instead of spending hours doing it by hand. It had taken quite a while for the meridianites to adapt to this new machine though!

As expected Elyon was waiting in the throne room, she was sat off to one side in front of a huge desk surrounded by bits of paper. "Caleb" She said as he walked through the door. "How where the guardians?" That was always the first thing she asked after he had come back from a trip to Earth. "They are fine and they all say hello, Will said that's she's going to come and see you soon, she said that she had something important to discuss with you" Elyon looked at him and just nodded. Then she smiled "Sit down Caleb, you must be tired, I'll have some wine bought to us"

Caleb sunk into one of the large cushioned chairs and stretched his long legs out. "There was one thing that I think I should mention though. When I was down in the basment talking to the guardians this woman came down the steps. It seemed as if she knew them. Then she said something like 'It can't be' and just collapsed." Elyon almost chocked on the wine that had just been bought over. "What did she look like?" She said in a very small voice.

" Tall, Long blond hair, Blue eyes, I didn't really see that much of her before she passed out, the guardians all swarmed over her like a bunch of flies after that so I left..Why?" For some reason Caleb didn't want to tell Elyon that he couldn't get this girl out of his head or that he thought he recognised her. Again that beautiful face flashed in his minds eye and he did something that he hardly ever did. He smiled. Thankfully Elyon hadn't noticed.

"Oh no reason" She left it at that and Caleb knew not to push her. She could have a fearsome temper when she wanted to and his head was still pounding. The last thing he needed was his masterfull Queen shouting at him. Caleb took his wine off the table and had a long drink from it before he began his report, he got the feeling though halfway through that Elyon wasn't really listening.

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"What the hell are they playing at" Elyon thought to herself as she paced back and fourth in her chambers. They had decided 10 years ago that they would keep Caleb's existance from Cornelia at all costs. She had taken his death so badly and when they discovered that she was pregnant with his child they were worried that the shock would be too much and she would loose the baby. After everything that Cornelia had been through they couldn't risk it. Even Cal's birth hadn't bought Cornelia out of her depression. It was a good couple of years before she could even look at her child without crying. The Guardians had virtually cared for Cal 24/7 for the first three years of his life.

Elyon hadn't seen Cornelia for a long time now. She understood though, her once best friend would have found it to hard to come back to Meridian, there would have been to many memories here for her, and Elyon had a responsibility to her Kingdom, she couldn't just flit off to Earth anytime she felt like it. She knew that she had to go soon though just to find out what was going on. Had the guardians changed their minds? Did they now think that they should tell Corneila that her Lover, who she had seen die, was in fact alive and well and had been for the past 10 years?! "This is complete madness" She said as she continued pacing the room.

There was only one thing for it. She had to go to Earth.

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Holy macaroni cheese that was hard going!! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it really helped the old ego!! Anyway hope you enjoyed this Chapter, Sorry if it seems a little disjointed, I'm still decided where i want to go with it. But hey if you liked it, or didn't please Review! Of course I'd prefer it if you did like it!


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